BEIJING, Dec 10 (Reuters) - China's exports rose in Novemberat a much weaker pace than expected and imports were flatcompared with a year earlier, taking some shine off weekend datathat suggested a revival in the world's second-biggest economywas deepening.

Exports rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier, well belowexpectations for a 9.0 percent increase and October's 11.6percent pace, customs figures showed on Monday. Imports wereunchanged on the year, weaker than forecasts for a 2.0 percentincrease.

The data represented the weakest performance for exports andimports since August.

"The export slowdown shows external demand faces uncertaintydue to concerns over the fiscal cliff in the U.S.," said ZhangZhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.

"Nonetheless it does not change our view that growth is ontrack for a strong recovery in Q4, as (growth) is mostlydomestically driven."

The trade data follows government figures on Sunday thatshowed industrial output rose a higher-than-expected 10.1percent in November from a year earlier, the fastest pace sinceMarch.

The weekend figures also showed consumer inflation bouncedoff a 33-month trough, but remained at relatively low levels,and that retail sales growth picked up.

"The Chinese economy is now in a sweet spot and can stay inthe sweet spot through the first half of 2013," Ting Lu, aneconomist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, said before thetrade figures were released. "Beijing will be happy to sustainthe current policy stance."

Hurt by wilting export growth and lacklustre domestic demandpartly owing to measures to cool down a hot property market,growth hit a three-year low of 7.4 percent in the July-Septemberquarter and is poised this year for its weakest expansion since1999.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, cut interestrates in both June and July and has lowered banks' reserverequirement ratio (RRR) by 150 basis points since late 2011,freeing an estimated 1.2 trillion yuan ($193 billion) forlending.

China's economy is expected to grow in 2012 by 7.5 percent -in line with a government target - before picking up to expand8.5 percent in 2013, the Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development said in a November report.

WATCHING INFLATION

Like factory output, retail sales were also stronger thanexpected. The 14.9 percent gain was above forecasts for a 14.6percent increase. Analysts had expected industrial output toexpand by 9.8 percent.

Fixed asset investment, or spending in such areas asbridges, factories and housing, rose 20.7 percent in the first11 months of the year over the same year-earlier period. Thatcompared with expectations for a 20.8 percent gain.

Although that leaves consumer inflation well below Beijing's4 percent target for 2012, the central bank has said risingprices represent the biggest risk long term as China makes atransition from a planned to a market-based economy.

Underlining its worries about consumer and propertyinflation, the central bank has not cut interest rates or theRRR since July. Instead it has used open-market operations tomanage cash in the economy to try to target its impact moreprecisely.

November's data showed price momentum may also be changingin industry.

Factory-gate prices fell 2.2 percent in November from a yearearlier. It marked the ninth straight month of decline but wasthe second month that deflation narrowed after September's 3.6percent drop, the steepest in nearly three years.